Megillah 21b — the Talmud in English

The tanna taught: Which is not so with the Torah,

for it is read only by one person alone .

The Sages taught: With the Torah—

one reads and one translates. But one may not have one read and two translate,

because two voices are not heard.

And with the Prophets—

one reads, and

even

two translate. But one may not have two read and two translate.

The reason is that the translation is only in order to make it heard to women and uneducated people who do not understand the reading. Therefore, in the translation of the Torah, they must hear well, so that they will understand the mitzvot; therefore, two should not translate. But in the translation of the Prophets, we are not so particular.

And with Hallel and the megilla—

even ten may read, and ten may translate .

What is the reason?

Since it is beloved, they direct

the listeners’

attention—

and they hear

even from two [readers] .

We learned in our Mishna:

“Where the custom is to bless—

he should bless

etc.”

Abaye said: They taught

that where the custom is not to bless, he should not bless,

only after it. But before it—

it is a mitzva to bless.

For Rav Yehuda said in the name of Shmuel: All the mitzvot—

one blesses over them immediately before [

before ]

performing them.

From where is it understood that this “immediately before”

is an expression of preceding?

Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak said,

for

the verse says: “And Ahimaaz ran by the way of the Plain and passed the Cushite.”

That is, he preceded the Cushite.

Abaye said: From here,

as it is written:

“And he passed before them.”

And if you wish, say from here: “And their king shall pass before them, and the Lord at their head.”

What does one bless before it?

Rav Sheshet of Kartzuzia happened to come before Rav Ashi, and he blessed: M-N-H.

That is, the initial letters of: “over the

m

egilla,” “who

n

performed miracles for our ancestors,” and “who has

h

ept us alive” .

What does one bless after it?

“Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who pleads our cause, and judges our judgment, and avenges our vengeance, and exacts payment for us from our enemies, and repays recompense to all

the enemies of our soul ,

blessed are You, Lord, who exacts payment for Israel from all their enemies.”

Rava said

in the conclusion of this blessing:

“the God who saves.”

Rav Pappa said: Therefore,

since one master said this and one master said that—

let us say both of them.

And thus one should say:

“Blessed are You, Lord, who exacts payment for Israel from all their enemies, the God who saves.”

We learned in our Mishna:

“On Mondays and Thursdays, at the afternoon prayer, three read, etc.”

These three

read—

corresponding to what

are they?

Rav Asi said: Corresponding to Torah, Prophets, and Writings.

Rava said: Corresponding to priests, Levites, and Israelites.

And we raised an objection against this: If so, that the number of those who read was instituted corresponding to something,

but as for that which Rav Shimi taught: “One may not have fewer than ten verses read in the synagogue,” ,

and the verse

“And He spoke

the Lord to Moses, saying”

counts in the number,

even though nothing at all can be learned from it.

These ten

verses

corresponding to what

are they?

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said: Corresponding to the ten idlers in the synagogue.

Rav Yosef said: Corresponding to the Ten Commandments that were said to Moses at Sinai.

And Rabbi Yohanan said: Corresponding to the ten utterances through which the world was created.

Which are they,

the ten utterances?

All the verses of

“And He said” in Genesis,

such as: “And God said, ‘Let there be light.’”

And we wondered:

These “

and He said”—

are nine!?

And we answer:

“In the beginning

God created,” which was said concerning the creation of heaven and earth—

is also an utterance. For it is written: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host,”

we see that heaven and earth, too, were created through an utterance.

Rava said:

If the

first

of the three who read is the one

who read four

verses [for they read ten verses for three who read; therefore, it emerges that one of those who read reads four verses, while the others read three verses each]—

he is praiseworthy.

And likewise,

the second who read four [if the first did not read four]—

he is praiseworthy.

he is praiseworthy.

And likewise,

the third who read four—

he is praiseworthy.

And now Rava explains his statement:

The first who read four—

is praiseworthy;

from where do we know this?

For we learned: “With three baskets, each holding three seahs, with which they made the collection for the chamber.”

That is, they would place the half-shekel coins in the chamber, and three times a year they would take them from there in those three baskets, in order to purchase sacrifices with them.

And it was written on them

the letters

aleph-bet-gimel,

in order

to know which of them,

of those baskets,

was collected first,

in order

to sacrifice from it first,

because

the mitzva is with the first.

We see that the first is praiseworthy.

The middle one who read four—

is praiseworthy;

from where do we know this?

For it was taught in a beraita,

it is written:

“Toward the face of the menorah shall the seven lamps give light

the seven lamps”

—this teaches that he turns

their faces

of the six lamps—that is, the mouths of the lamps [the lamps are the cups in which the oil and the wick are placed], where the wick is placed,

toward the western lamp,

which is the lamp fixed in the body of the menorah, in its middle. And this is: “Toward the face of the menorah.”

And the western lamp—

was inclined

toward the Divine Presence,

which is in the west, for the menorah was placed in the Tabernacle between north and south, and the western lamp was drawn slightly toward the west .

And Rabbi Yohanan said: From here—

that the middle one is praiseworthy,

for all the lamps faced toward the western lamp, which was the middle one.

And the last one who read four—

is praiseworthy.

What is the reason?

Because

one

ascends in holiness—

and does not descend.

And therefore, it is preferable that the last one read four. For if one of the first ones reads four, it emerges that there is a descent with the last one, who reads only three.

Rav Pappa happened to come to the synagogue of Avi Gober,

and read

the

first four

verses,

and Rav Pappa praised him .

We learned in our Mishna:

“One may not have fewer than them, nor may one add to them,”

etc.

It was taught: The one who begins,

the first one who reads,

recites a blessing before it, and the one who concludes—

recites a blessing after it.

And what is the reason that

now,

in our time,

all of them,

all those who read,

recite a blessing before it and afterward?

This is the reason that the Sages instituted it—

a decree on account of those who enter,

that is, those who entered after the one who began had recited the blessing and did not hear his blessing, and they will say that there is no blessing before the Torah; therefore, they instituted a blessing before it for each of those who reads .

And on account of those who leave,

that is, those who left before the one who concluded had recited the blessing, and they will say that there is no blessing after the Torah; therefore, they instituted a blessing afterward for each of those who reads.

We learned in our Mishna:

“On New Moons and on the intermediate days of a festival, four read, etc.”

Ulla bar Rav asked Rava: The portion of the New Moon—how do they read it

with four who read?

For they begin the reading with the portion of the daily offering:

“Command the Children of Israel and say to them: My offering, My food

etc.” If so, this portion,

which consists of eight verses—what shall we do

with its reading?

If you say that

we should have two

of those who read

read three verses each,

if so,

two will remain

verses in the portion,

and one does not leave fewer than three verses in a portion

[as the reason is explained below]!

Rather,

we should have

two men

read four and four

verses.

But still, what shall we do with the final portion?

Seven

verses will remain! For

“And on the day of the Shabbat”—

there are two

verses, and

“And on your New Moons”—

there are five. And

And

what shall we do

with this portion?

If

we should have

one man

read two

verses

from this

of “And on the day of the Shabbat,”

and one

verse

from those

verses of “And on your New Moons,”

one does not begin a portion with fewer than three verses

[as below]!?